


The Things That Haunt Us

by herstorybooks



Category: Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: F/M, Jareth/sarah williams - Freeform, Labyrinth - Freeform, Sareth - Freeform, jareth and sarah, sarah and jareth, the goblin king - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-20
Updated: 2014-05-25
Packaged: 2018-01-25 22:20:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1664570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/herstorybooks/pseuds/herstorybooks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sarah Williams is now all grown up and living her peaceful life as a teacher. Her past adventures in Labyrinth became nothing but stories she used to tell Toby. After watching her live her life for years, Jareth grows tired and longing for Sarah. Sarah's world is turned upside down once again, when a Jareth re-appears in her land, reminds her of her past life, and gets stuck in this new world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Labyrinth Fanfiction. Be kind please ^_^

It was a different time. Fashion was different, society was different, and Sarah was different. She was no longer the strong minded young girl who found herself making her way through the Goblin King’s labyrinth. No, she was now a strong minded _woman,_ and labyrinth was nothing more than a funny dream she had about her favourite book. She was now a respectful teacher, looking after the future minds that were now stuck between the ages of 4-6.  She had grown closer with Toby at this particular age. She was the cool older sister who told him magical stories about goblins and their king. Toby was now only a few years away from turning into a stroppy teenager, and the stories were no longer appreciated; the stories were now left on the shelf. Her life was filled with other people’s children, with Toby and with a simple boring life of her own. Of course for all she knew this was a normal life.  She didn’t know anything different. She didn’t know of the life she could of have, the life she gave up. It was all just a silly little dream she one day grew out of.

Jareth sat on his large thrown, glaring at the hyper active goblins he ruled over. They were loud and annoying. They all scampered beneath his feet like small rats, and this aggravated him more than anything. All he wanted, all he needed, was 10 minutes alone and with peace.   
“Leave.” He said in a simple monotone voice. However the goblins seemed to not have noticed and continued to shout and screech. “Leave!” he belted! The goblins froze before running away as fast as their small legs allowed them. With a bang of a door Jareth was alone. He sighed as one simple crystal ball appeared into his hand. He began to spin and wined the ball through his fingers. He watched as the image of a grown up Sarah appeared.

He had watched he grow and mature into an adult in 12 months. 10 years was nothing but one year in his world, and the years were passing by far too quickly for his liking. He had watched Sarah tell stories about her time in his kingdom, and he had watched as that was all they had become, stories. No longer memoires, stories. Sarah was in her classroom, checking all her young students had all their belongings, before rushing off to their waiting parents.

She stood by the large double white door and waved off all the children until they were all out of sight. She leaned against the door and sighed as she looked up at the sun. She smiled with contempt as she closed her eyes. She had grown more and more beautiful with every passing year he had watched her. At this time she was dressed in dark black jeans, a blue and white 3 quarter length top and small blue pumps. Her rich dark hair dangled against her shoulders gracefully. Her eyes flickered open and dazzled against the evening sun. She returned to her classroom before gathering her belongings and her face disappearing from the crystal ball.

Jareth let out a sigh of frustration. 1 year? 10 years? It made no difference. He had waited long enough.

Sarah sat in a small quiet café window as the rain drizzled down the glass. She watched people outside rush back and forwards, sheltering themselves from the rain. Outside was so loud and noisy; it felt nice knowing she was inside where it was quiet and calm. The waiter brought over a large round cup of steaming hot tea. She thanked him with a smile before wrapping her hands around the oversized cup. She was about to lift the cup up to take a sip when a small drop fell from the side and onto her jeans.   
“Oh dear.” She said to herself as she placed the cup back down. She peered into her bag in search for another clean napkin or tissue. She lifted up a packet of tissues but paused. Underneath was a book, a book she knew very well. “ _The Goblin_ King _”._ It was dusty and old and hadn’t been off the shelf since she was in her 2nd year of teaching. “That’s strange.” She said picking up the book. “How did you get in there?” she smiled gently as she turned to open the cover of the book and read the writing. She slowly began to fall in love with the story all over again.

An hour had past and two more cups of tea had been paid for and drank, but Sarah was still happy sitting in her café reading her book. It was still raining and she was in no rush home to her empty apartment. She turned the page over to be greeted by a very detailed illustration of the Goblin King. He stood there with goblins at his feet. His trousers were tight and his hair full and large. There was something unique, attractive about him. There was something very familiar. His eyes were strange, not quite matching.   
“Excuse me.” Her thoughts were interrupted. She looked up suddenly to see a man. She saw a unique, attractive and familiar man. His eyes, they were not quite matching. She looked back down to her page to see the illustration gone. She looked back up to the man. “I’m sorry, is this seat taken?” Sarah looked around to see the café filled; there was not one free seat in the building. That was strange, she thought. It was empty a moment ago.   
“Oh yes, of course.” The man sat down, and as he did, the café appeared to be empty once again. She blinked rapidly. She had been working all day; her mind was playing tricks on her. She returned to her book. She paid very little notice to the man. She paid very little notice to the fact he had not bought a drink. He just sat there and watched her.

The man was tall, very tall. He had blonde messy and short hair. He was dressed in a large black duffle coat that wrapped his body and went down to his knees. A thick bright red and dark red scarf was placed on the table, once wrapped around his neck.  He sat with his hands in his lap as he observed her. After 10 minutes or so, he interrupted Sarah’s mind once again.   
“Good book?” he asked casually. Sarah looked up and blinked again.   
“Oh yes. Are you familiar with it?” she asked lifting the book to show the cover.  
“The Goblin King? Oh yes, I have some surprising connections with that book.” His voice was odd. It had a sense of authority towards it, yet it still seemed quiet and nervous. “Is it a favourite of yours?”   
“As a young girl, yes. It’s very odd. I haven’t touched the book in years, and today it just appears in my bag.” She said laughing nervously. There was something about this man.  There was something unsettling, yet comforting.   
“Well, sometimes things from our past have funny ways of returning to us.” Sarah smiled and nodded.   
“I’m Sarah by the way.” she said reaching her hand out for him to shake.   
“It’s nice to meet you Sarah. I’m Jareth.”


	2. Chapter 2

As their hands met, a spark of energy came between them. Sarah saw faces once forgotten, landscapes she could only dream about, and dreams became memories. She pulled her hand away as if it was a reflex towards touching a hot metal pot.   
“Jareth.” She said in shock, or was it horror?   
“Hello Sarah.” He said in his old intimidating voice. “It’s nice to see you again.” She stared at him blankly. “You have changed a lot since our last encounter haven’t you?” she continued to stare at him in silence. She needed a moment to register what had just happened. She remembered everything, Hoggle, Ludo, Sir Didymus, the tunnels, the cleaners, the wise goblin, the other goblins, the maze, the bog of eternal stench and Jareth. Oh and Jareth.

Jareth’s hand reached across the table to retrieve the book from Sarah’s hands. She flinched as his un-gloved hand brushed against her skin slightly, causing goose bumps to rise  “Don’t look so worried Sarah. I don’t want to harm you.”   
“What do you want?” she spoke at last! The horror continued to fill in her eyes, her feet ready to run at any possible moment.   
“I want to give you one last chance, to accept my offer.” His fingers tapped to book one after the other in a playful mischievous way. This was all but a game to him.   
“You’re offer?” she asked in a confused tone.   
“Surely you haven’t forgotten Sarah.” She looked at him silent, still awaiting her answer. Jareth sighed before flicking the pages through the book. “Here.” He exclaimed as he pointed to a section of speech.

_“Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave.”_

“What is that supposed to mean?” she asked. She knew what he was asking but she needed to hear it from his words alone.   
“Come back to my world Sarah. Let me rule over you and everything will be as it was.” She looked at him with disbelief.   
“Fear you? Do as you say? Become your servant basically.” Jareth’s face twitched half way between a smile and hurt. She had left out the key importance in that sentence, _love._  
“I have watched you grow Sarah. I have seen you live the life you chose and it is not the life that someone like you should have. Come back with me Sarah.”  
“You’re insane.” She bolted out of the café and outside into the pouring heavy rain.

She began to run fast away from the café, but was held back by a strong grip on her arm. Her face turned and her hair began to stick to her neck as it absorbed the fast pouring rain. “Go away!” she yelled.   
“Sarah, you know you belong with me, in my world.”   
“let go!” she struggled underneath his grip, pulling and shifting.   
“Don’t make me do this Sarah.” She didn’t stop moving. She didn’t stop squirming. “I’m sorry to do this Sarah.” He yelled above the rain. He gripped tighter onto her arm and closed his eyes. As if he was expecting some sort of magic to happen.

His eyes re-opened and instantly changed from proud to confusion. “What? Why are we still here?”  
“What were you trying to do? Take me back to the Labyrinth? Face it Jareth. You’re no king in this land! You have no power of me!” she tugged tightly and released her hand from his grip. She turned and ran so quick she was afraid her legs would fall off. She ignored the loud cry of her name. however she missed the hush quiet plead for help that came after it.   
“How will I get home?” Jareth whimpered, just like a lost child.

Sarah slammed her door shut and fell against it. He was back. Her life was calm, it was simple, but now it was chaos. She planted her face into her hands before she realised she was soaking wet. She removed her coat and shoes and replaced all of her clothing with one large dark red T-shirt.

A loud bang came from her door and she had no doubt who it would be. She slowly stepped towards the door and looked through the peephole. She saw Jareth, his short hair and large coat drenched in rainwater.   
“Go!” she yelled.   
“Sarah, please! Where am I supposed to go?”   
“You have a kingdom waiting for you! Go there!”   
“I can’t! I’m stuck here! Sarah, please!”  
“NO!” She began to turn away when she heard two words that stopped her in her path.   
“Goodbye then.” Jareth spoke in a quite sorrowful voice. As if he had given up.

 Jareth heard a large bang and a groan of frustration from the other side of the door. Suddenly the sound of rattling chains appeared before the door swung open. Jareth took a second to catch his breath as he stared at Sarah with her long legs and wet hair.   
“One night.”


	3. Chapter 3

Jareth stared at Sarah in utmost shock. She stood before him, wearing barely anything and with her hair creating small water pools onto the hard wooden surface floor.   
“Really?” he asked in disbelief. Sarah stood to one side.   
“You have 10 seconds before I change my mind.” Jareth wasted 3 of those seconds standing in the doorway, not fully sure if she was being serious. Eventually he made the way into the apartment.

Sarah’s apartment was not large, but what did anyone expect from a kindergarten teacher’s salary. To the left of her apartment was the living room. It was made up of one large dark black leather sofa, the sofa sat happily with its back to the wall, facing inwards to the apartment.  2 other smaller sofas surrounded the rest of the empty space, a large mahogany coffee table and a television placed in front of the window. To the right of the apartment was the kitchen. It was a smart kitchen. It had dark marble surfaces, cooker and stove, microwave, kettle and fridge freezer. The walls were light cream with various artworks hanging from hooks. There were two doors next to the kitchen. One that led to the bathroom and one that led to Sarah’s bedroom. Jareth expected he would enter the first door, but he wondered about the second door. He was curious about Sarah’s natural environment. He was curious about where she slept and how she had made it her own. When she was a young teenager she had toys and costumes. He doubted she would have stuck to such childish décor.

Sarah placed a towel in front of his face. He took it gratefully and began to wipe away the rain from his face. “Take your coat off.” Sarah instructed. Jareth turned around with a smirk on his face.   
“And why would you want me to do that? Curious are we?” he said stepping close to Sarah so she had very little personal space. She looked at him with little amusement on her face.  
“You’re making my apartment wet.” She said pushing him away. Jareth chuckled with his dark low voice as he slipped off his coat. Sarah took his coat out of his hand managing to not look at him in the eye. She placed it into her basket to be cleaned and dried. She turned around to see Jareth in a very different appearance. His hair spiked up after ruffling it with a towel. He wore a very dark red shirt that became slightly see threw due to the rain. She was able to mark out his abs very clearly. A thin black tie was neatly wrapped underneath his collar. He wore dark black trousers, less tight than he had chosen to wear before. It was very strange to see him like this, in clothing from this world. However he still had the air of power and intimidation of him, even without any power in this world. It was like he had replaced one suit of armour for a new one. Both armours very strong and dashing, but very different.

“I’m afraid the absent of my coat still makes me a walking sponge,” he said. “I think I may have to remove other garments.” He said with a hook of his eyebrow and a smirk across his face. Sarah rolled her eyes and she turned away and disappeared into the back room. Jareth watched her slightly confused as to why she was leaving. She returned quickly with a large, grey male T-shirt. She handed it to him, still refusing to meet his eye.   
“You can put your wet clothes in here.” She said also handing him a laundry basket. “I’m going to bed; do not go into my room weather I am there or not. You can sleep on the sofa.” She turned away not waiting for a response and disappeared into her bedroom.

Jareth chuckled as Sarah had disappeared. He stared down at the items he held in his hand. He wondered where Sarah would get male clothing from. He was then distracted by what he saw in the washing basket he held in the other hand. Sarah’s clothing. It had changed a lot since she was a young girl.

 He changed into the grey T-shirt and placed his wet clothes into the basket. He moved towards the sofa and draped the large quilt over him as he lay down onto the leather. The lights still shone bright, but they didn’t seem to turn off when he clapped his hands as he expected. So he forced his eyes to shut and his mind to drift off to sleep with the lights still one.

Sarah crept out of her room and tip toed into the kitchen. She saw Jareth sleeping peacefully on the sofa, breathing in and out. She forced herself to look away when she noticed the small smile placed across her lips. She distracted herself by pouring herself a glass of water and heading back to her room. However she stopped before she managed to reach her door when she noticed the lights were still on. She carefully and quietly stepped towards Jareth. Her eyes not leaving him for a second to ensure he was still asleep. She leaned over him and reached for the lamp and turned it off with a click. She returned to her room quietly, taking one last glance at him before sighing to herself and returning to her room. However she did not notice how the darkness hid the fact that Jareth had awoke and was now smiling, full of want for Sarah.


	4. Chapter 4

Sarah pushed to switch that began to boil the water in the kettle. She leaned against the counter and stared at a still asleep Jareth. She had no idea why he had chosen to come back into her life. She couldn’t decide if she was happy or angry that he had returned. She almost lost Toby because of him, because of his evil ways. She was annoyed that he assumed she would go back to the Labyrinth with him. She was annoyed that he tried to take her against her will. She was annoyed. However she still couldn’t manage to shake of this feeling of happiness, of relief and joy.

She walked across the room and sat on the chair opposite where he slept. She watched how he slept so peacefully and how he breathed in and out. She decided she liked the new look he had taken. The short hair and casual clothing suited him nicely. She tilted her head and smiled sweetly at him. He was quite handsome. Jareth began to stir as the sound of the kettle grew louder. Sarah’s smile dropped as she leaped from her seat and hurried back into the kitchen.

“Ah. Good Morning.” Jareth said sleepily as he stretched. Sarah kept her back to him as she poured hot water into her cup. Jareth took a moment to look yet again at Sarah’s long shapely legs. How she had grown. He grinned and chuckled before jumping off the sofa and heading towards Sarah.

He slowly approached her before pressing the front of his stomach to Sarah’s back. He reached around her for a peach that sat in a fruit bowl. He lingered as he noticed  Sarah’s breath seemed to hold. He felt the intense electricity that transferred from her skin to his. “Do you remember the peach?” he whispered, their bodies still touching. Sarah nodded slightly as she felt Jareth breath in her scent.  Her hair smelt sweet and her skin felt hot.   
“It was such a long time ago.” She said silently.   
“Maybe it was for you.” Jareth stated as he turned away and walked back into the living room.

 He lay back onto the sofa; he swung his legs so they casually dangled from the arm rest.    
“What?” she asked turning around. However her mind was cleared when she saw Jareth; wearing the T-shirt she gave him, and boxers. She gulped. It was an even stranger sight than seeing him in a simple shirt and tie for the first time. She then looked down at her own body. Both of them seemed to be lacking a great amount of clothing. She panicked and fled the room.   
“Sarah?” Jareth called as she disappeared once again.

After a short amount of time she returned dressed in a navy, short sleeved skater dress. She paired it with sheer black tights and black ankle boots. Her hair was once again black and sleek. Jareth was still in his T-shirt and boxers.   
“Do you ever put clothes on?” she asked in annoyance. Jareth smirked as he stood up.   
“My clothes are still wet; and anyway, I don’t plan on going out.” Sarah shot him an unimpressed look before turning away.   
“Well I am going out.” She said bluntly.   
“You’re leaving?” He asked shocked.   
“Yes, I have work.” Sarah said, stating the obvious. She was confused to Jareth’s somewhat hurt expression. “When I get home your clothes will be dry and you can be on your way”  
“On my way?” Jareth was now the one who was confused.   
“I said one night only. Unless you can give me a good enough reason as to why I should let you stay a minute longer?” Jareth stayed quiet. He had a reason but could not bring himself to say it.

Sarah sat at her desk whilst all the children were outside for lunch. She sat with one hand buried into her dark hair, the other occupied with a pen writing end of year reports. She stopped with frustration as she accidently wrote the name Jareth instead of Jared. She tossed the pen against the desk and ran her hands over her face and through her hair. She couldn’t get that idiot out of her head.   
“Are you okay?” Amy, the teacher from the year above asked. Sarah looked up and smiled with embarrassment.   
“Yeah, I’m fine.”  
“I bought you some lunch.” She said placing a plate in front of her.   
“Thanks.”

Amy left the room and Sarah stared intensely at the plate. On the plate laid a simple sandwich and a peach. Sara picked up the peach and studied it. The mixture of pink and orange had always been pleasant to Sarah, however now it seemed sickly. She threw the peach into the bin and placed her head down on the table.   
“I doubt it has worms in.” Sarah squealed in shock as she lifted her head. There in front of her stood Jareth.   
“What are you doing here?” she sounded angry.   
“Sarah we need to talk.”   
“No! No we don’t. Not here, not where I work!” Sarah stood up and began to push him out the door.  
“Sarah just let me talk!” He said grabbing onto her arms and holding her still. Sarah paused at the sudden strength in his arms. She gripped onto Jareth’s arms and found it somewhat exhilarating. “Sarah, I am not going back to the Underworld.” The scent of excitement left her body and was replaced with annoyance  
“Yes you are Jareth. You’re going to go back to the Labyrinth and rule over the Goblin City. Now if you don’t mind. Go.”  
“No Sarah!” Jareth pulled her even closer so only an inch separated them. “You’re not listening. I don’t know how to get back! Something is keeping me here!” Their eyes locked and gazed at each other intensely.  Jareth’s eyes were filled with fear and agony. He was scared! Sarah had never seen this side of him. She assumed the puppy dog eyes he gave her last night was a game. He had always been a game, a game she willingly played.

  
“Sarah! I think I left my… Oh. What’s going on?” Amy had walked back into the room to see Sarah held close to a tall stranger in a suit.  Sarah pushed Jareth away.   
“Amy. I err…”   
“Who’s this?” Amy asked seductively staring at Jareth. She always had been a large flirt.   
“This is my friend, Jareth. He was just leaving.” Sarah hinted to Jareth who seemed clueless.   
“No I wasn’t” Jareth complained. “We haven’t finished talking.” He said facing his back to Amy and focussed solely on Sarah. “This is important Sarah.”   
“Go back to the apartment Jareth.” Sarah demanded in a hushed whisper. Jareth followed her instruction and left the room. he passed Amy on the way out who shot him a sexual glance, to which he ignored.

  “Who was that?” Amy asked enthusiastically.  
“That was no one.” Sarah sighed.    
“He didn’t look like no one.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> I have finished writing the next chapter already. I just need to check it over and start writing the next chapter after that. Then Chapter 2 should be up by tomorrow night! hope to see you all there :)


End file.
